Classroom management is something that I think all teachers struggle to excel in. I know my CT is extremely effective at controlling the moods of the 9th graders in the classroom, and even she sometimes has trouble. It is hard to maintain a calm demeanor when there is a lot of chaos in the room. For this reflection I chose to write about two occurrences where an unordinary event occurred that upset the classroom and how my CT handled the situation. The first event I witnessed was my first fire drill. It was uncommonly warm out for the first week of November, and there was a fire drill with 20 minutes left in the class period. Of course, word broke out among the students that there was going to be a “surprise” fire drill and they would not stop talking among themselves. The whole class made it to the meeting spot on time, and back to the classroom together, but when we returned there was almost no way to get any work done. The students were out of control, and two of the boys seemed to think that it was ok to have a volleyball game across the room with their scrap paper. As a whole, the students were very excited and in a good mood, but the energy in the room was disobedient. My CT changed her plans for the rest of the class and had the students finish the work they were supposed to do for homework. They were allowed to read or talk to their neighbor when they were finished, but this privilege got take away. She always tells the students that they start with freedoms and they get taken away when they do not earn them, and the talking and bad behavior was why they had to sit quietly and finish their work. Also, she had the homework sheet count as a graded worksheet (instead of just checked for completion) in order to reinforce the consequence of acting out. The second time I was not present for, but it was a significant even that I wish to reflect on. The day before Thanksgiving break, Westerly High School has a spirit day. There is a hot coco station all day, the band plays through the hallways and the end of the day is replaced with a pep rally. Overall this day is seen to be a waste of teacher’s time, since none of the teachers can get the students to work productively. From what I have heard, there were a lot of movies shown in class in hopes that the students wouldn’t cause disruptions to other rooms. In my classroom, my CT said the students were listening to her as far as noise level was concerned but there is no hope of getting any work done whenever it is a pep rally day. In addition to being spirit day, this is the day that most students got asked as dates to the homecoming dance, which caused a lot of unfocused students when it came to academics. As far as the fire drill is concerned, I am very glad I witnessed this disruption. I was able to not only see the route I would take in case of a fire, but also how the students react when back in the classroom. I saw that my CT worked with the mentality of the students, not against it, in order to have a productive classroom. She understands that 9th graders do not always have the maturity level needed to refocus their attention, and sometimes when the attention is lost you just need to “go with it” and change the plan. This was also true in the spirit day example, where there was no hope at focusing the school as a whole. Thanksgiving weekend is a huge football game for Westerly, as it has been going on for 100 years. The pep rally is very exciting and also a century long tradition, as is the activities that go on in the town after school lets out. With such exciting things coming up I can see how the students become distracted. My CT was able to see that controlling the class was the first priority, and also understanding that this day would happen beforehand. She prepared by giving the students more work the week before, and warning them that they had to get a lot done in order to have an easy day for spirit day. This was an incentive for the students while helping my CT stay on track with the curriculum. I hope that I can continue these types of classroom management strategies in the 9th grade classroom. I have learned a lot about having a lot of leeway in my lesson plans and also to be willing to change my lessons according to the students needs and moods. I am really starting to see that losing one day of instruction is not a complete failure, and sometimes a break in learning is really helpful for the students. I also see the other side of the argument, how teachers cannot disrupt their day constantly in order to appease the students. This is true, but the two examples I have given above are very different circumstances. A fire drill is common in schools, but sometimes it is hard to refocus the students. By using a worksheet to be graded, my CT demanded some of the lost focus back from the students. The pep rally day is an extreme scenario, where the school as a whole was only focused on the 100-year-old football game the next day. There was little work to be done, and the teachers seemed to be in agreement that the students would fight back and it was better for everyone to do review work and to control the classroom. This held noise levels low and continued students working, while keeping up the good mood of the school.
The first event I witnessed was my first fire drill. It was uncommonly warm out for the first week of November, and there was a fire drill with 20 minutes left in the class period. Of course, word broke out among the students that there was going to be a “surprise” fire drill and they would not stop talking among themselves. The whole class made it to the meeting spot on time, and back to the classroom together, but when we returned there was almost no way to get any work done. The students were out of control, and two of the boys seemed to think that it was ok to have a volleyball game across the room with their scrap paper. As a whole, the students were very excited and in a good mood, but the energy in the room was disobedient. My CT changed her plans for the rest of the class and had the students finish the work they were supposed to do for homework. They were allowed to read or talk to their neighbor when they were finished, but this privilege got take away. She always tells the students that they start with freedoms and they get taken away when they do not earn them, and the talking and bad behavior was why they had to sit quietly and finish their work. Also, she had the homework sheet count as a graded worksheet (instead of just checked for completion) in order to reinforce the consequence of acting out.
The second time I was not present for, but it was a significant even that I wish to reflect on. The day before Thanksgiving break, Westerly High School has a spirit day. There is a hot coco station all day, the band plays through the hallways and the end of the day is replaced with a pep rally. Overall this day is seen to be a waste of teacher’s time, since none of the teachers can get the students to work productively. From what I have heard, there were a lot of movies shown in class in hopes that the students wouldn’t cause disruptions to other rooms. In my classroom, my CT said the students were listening to her as far as noise level was concerned but there is no hope of getting any work done whenever it is a pep rally day. In addition to being spirit day, this is the day that most students got asked as dates to the homecoming dance, which caused a lot of unfocused students when it came to academics.
As far as the fire drill is concerned, I am very glad I witnessed this disruption. I was able to not only see the route I would take in case of a fire, but also how the students react when back in the classroom. I saw that my CT worked with the mentality of the students, not against it, in order to have a productive classroom. She understands that 9th graders do not always have the maturity level needed to refocus their attention, and sometimes when the attention is lost you just need to “go with it” and change the plan. This was also true in the spirit day example, where there was no hope at focusing the school as a whole. Thanksgiving weekend is a huge football game for Westerly, as it has been going on for 100 years. The pep rally is very exciting and also a century long tradition, as is the activities that go on in the town after school lets out. With such exciting things coming up I can see how the students become distracted. My CT was able to see that controlling the class was the first priority, and also understanding that this day would happen beforehand. She prepared by giving the students more work the week before, and warning them that they had to get a lot done in order to have an easy day for spirit day. This was an incentive for the students while helping my CT stay on track with the curriculum.
I hope that I can continue these types of classroom management strategies in the 9th grade classroom. I have learned a lot about having a lot of leeway in my lesson plans and also to be willing to change my lessons according to the students needs and moods. I am really starting to see that losing one day of instruction is not a complete failure, and sometimes a break in learning is really helpful for the students. I also see the other side of the argument, how teachers cannot disrupt their day constantly in order to appease the students. This is true, but the two examples I have given above are very different circumstances. A fire drill is common in schools, but sometimes it is hard to refocus the students. By using a worksheet to be graded, my CT demanded some of the lost focus back from the students. The pep rally day is an extreme scenario, where the school as a whole was only focused on the 100-year-old football game the next day. There was little work to be done, and the teachers seemed to be in agreement that the students would fight back and it was better for everyone to do review work and to control the classroom. This held noise levels low and continued students working, while keeping up the good mood of the school.